COMMENTARY: Clergy Should Leave Politicking to Politicians

c. 2005 Religion News Service (UNDATED) Being a religious cheerleader for politicians and their policies does not appear in any clergy job description. One hopes that’s the lesson learned by the Rev. Chan Chandler, the 33-year-old minister who recently lost his job as pastor of the East Waynesville (N.C.) Baptist Church. Shortly before last year’s […]

c. 2005 Religion News Service

(UNDATED) Being a religious cheerleader for politicians and their policies does not appear in any clergy job description.

One hopes that’s the lesson learned by the Rev. Chan Chandler, the 33-year-old minister who recently lost his job as pastor of the East Waynesville (N.C.) Baptist Church.


Shortly before last year’s presidential election, Chandler admonished his congregation: “If you vote for John Kerry this year, you need to repent or resign. You have been holding back God’s church way too long.” Chandler, a strong supporter of President Bush, was upset with Kerry’s support of abortion rights.

The pastor’s intemperate outburst attracted national attention and divided the congregation. But earlier this month it was actually Chandler, and not the Kerry voters, who was forced to leave the church.

The experience should compel the chastened pastor to reread the story of David and Nathan in the Bible that Chandler claims to know and revere. He seems to have forgotten what terrible things happen when the clergy become too enamored of political leaders and fail to see how they and their advisers cleverly manipulate and use religion for self-centered purposes.

The Scriptural account of King David, ancient Israel’s greatest ruler, and Nathan the prophet is found in Second Samuel and should be required reading, not only for Chandler, but for every clergyperson who leads a congregation in today’s highly partisan and politically polarized America.

The biblical story describes the appropriate role of religion and politics.

Like many rulers throughout history, King David arrogantly usurped his authority when he cynically sent Uriah, the husband of Bathsheba, to his death in combat. David ordered that during the battle Uriah be placed “in the front line where the fighting is fiercest … so that he may be killed.” Once he received word that his repugnant scheme took place, David moved quickly and wed the woman he lusted for, Uriah’s beautiful widow, Bathsheba.

Nathan, furious with the king’s sinful actions, told David a parable about a rich, powerful man who stole a poor man’s only lamb. David, perhaps playing coy, said, “The man who did this deserves to die.” Nathan, not missing a beat, pointed his accusing finger at his king and speaking truth to power said, “That man is you!” The prophet was not seduced by the popular king or by the potent trappings of political power. Nathan demanded that David follow the same ethical and moral laws that applied to all Israelites, a people of God.

For his bloody sin, David was denied the honor of building the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. That was left to Solomon, the child of David and Bathsheba.


Nathan set a high standard for all future religious leaders to emulate. But too many clergy like Chandler fall into the dangerous trap of letting their political views overwhelm their pastoral role. Chandler opposes abortion on religious grounds, and that is surely his right, but he seriously strayed from his spiritual vocation when he attempted to rid his congregation of those who, perhaps for religious reasons, do not share his beliefs.

Kings, queens, emperors, czars, prime ministers and presidents all have one thing in common: They want religious leaders to act like neutered pets, docile lap dogs that happily do the bidding of political leaders.

The Jewish tradition, drawing on the clash between David and Nathan, warns people not to draw too near the “fire of the ruling authority lest it consume you.”

Clearly, Chandler holds strong political opinions, as do members of his former congregation. But clergy can express their opinions in the privacy of the polling booth, or as private citizens acting in total independence from their congregational duties. They can even put their beliefs to the test by running for elective offices. However, churches and synagogues are not political clubhouses and people should not be required to pass political litmus tests before they can become members.

Many Americans today are fearful that Christian conservatives seek to impose their particular set of beliefs and values upon the government and the entire American society. I share that concern.

But I also have another fear. Whenever the state and religion have become inextricably intertwined, it is almost always religion that suffers a loss of spiritual freedom, independence and prophetic witness. Religion is most authentic when its leaders remain outside the palace, the castle or the White House, and enter those precincts only as Nathan did: to speak truth to power, to chastise rulers when they err by acting in an arrogant, illegal fashion.


(Rabbi Rudin, the American Jewish Committee’s Senior Interreligious Adviser, is Distinguished Visiting Professor at Saint Leo University.)

KRE/PH END RUDIN

Editors: Check the RNS photo Web site at https://religionnews.com for photos to accompany this column.

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